Finding Forever

by

Common

Edit

In a recent interview, Common explained the title; he wants to try to "find a place in music where you can exist forever. Music can be forever if you make it from the heart." I can only imagine the pressure on Common's shoulders after such a critically acclaimed album, Be, but it seems that he's up to a challenge to try and create an even better album that will go down in the history books.

The album begins with a mellow and heavenly intro, which abruptly fades into the hard-hitting, Kanye West produced "Start The Show." With ominous strings and a fierce snare to back him, Common makes it clear that he is not your average "hot-for-a-minute" rapper. Triumphantly, he disses the wack rappers by telling them their "live show is hollow" and that they were "better as a drug dealer." Ouch! Up next is the first single, "The People." Common makes it clear that he's in this business to touch people's lives. Dwele's entrancing vocals add a nice touch. The next track, "Drivin' Me Wild," has to be one of the most odd combinations in a hip hop song that we've seen lately, but it actually works well. Lily Allen, the UK songbird, has a high and clear voice that blends perfectly with the production and adds a whole new dimension to the song. The songs' lyrics are my favorite part, however. It tells stories of people who have driven themselves crazy "like the astronaut lady" by being a slave to pop/hip hop culture, worrying so much about appearance, trying to be famous, trying to impress others and product placement. The will.i.am produced "I Want You" is a classic tale of you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Over the dreamy, spacy production, Common tells his story of love lost. "I spent many years trying to be a hearthrob/ I guess it's only right that I'd get my heart robbed." (Could this song possibly be about Erykah Badu?) The electric guitar heavy "Southside" is a great cut. Common and Kanye play rhyme tag team to a great, energetic effect. "The Game" takes it back to good old school hip hop with scrathes from the great DJ Premier. The song speaks on how you've got to be "in it to win it" and you have to put your soul in what you do if you want to succeed. On "Black Maybe," Common speaks on how African Americans must endure certain obstacles, whether it be themselves, others or the temptations that surround them. Bilal, who has been gone for quite awhile, delivers some good vocals for the hook. Speaking of neo-soul singers who have seemed to disappear off the face of the earth... D'Angelo appears on the next track, "So Far To Go." The song has sweeet, old school soul-inspired production by the late, but great J. Dilla. (I found it to be reminiscent like "Come Close" from Electric Circus.) The next track, "Break My Heart," is a humorous and funky track. Upon first meeting a new love interest, "she said you look like you rap/ but where's bling-ay/ and your clothes is tight/ but you don't seem gay/ I said nah/ that's the dude from N'Sync-ay." (Haha.) "Misunderstood," a story of lost dreams and a need for the one above, sounds like it's straight out of a live jazz bar and uses a sample of one of my favorite songs from the late Nina Simone. It fits perfectly. The final track, "Forever Begins," is a perfect way to end. The production is a little reminiscent of the experimental instrumentation on Electric Circus. There is a heavenly piano loop and it takes you to a faraway place. Perfect way to end a great album.

At a time when rappers are in the business just for the money and now that BET has become an even wacker version of MTV, (yeah, I said it) it's nice to hear a refreshing and positive album from a lyricist who truly has love for the game. The album has great production and Common's rhymes are incredible. Almost everything that he says on this album is quotable, whether it be extremely deep or just funny. The only real flaw here is that sometimes the tracks are a bit too mellow. Otherwise this album is perfect. I won't compare it to Be, you should decide yourself. I hihgly recommend. This will definitely be in my CD player for close to forever!

I've heard a lot of Common Sense, and this just seems like a decent album by him. It's highly listenable, but not overwhelmingly memorable. And I thought "Be" was a coherent album whose tracks didn't stand out individually, this one is even more so. I'm glad there are bangers like "Southside" and "The Game," but a lot of the tracks don't stand out too much. It seems rather rushed by his standards. I just think more material should have been added- I know there were at least three extra songs recorded that didn't make the cut. Once again we have a very short album, which is kinda a blessing and a curse- a curse only when some of the existing songs aren't too remarkable.

This cd suffers from an extended downbeat last third, a la Pharoahe Monch's recent cd. The songs aren't bad on their own merit, but can be a little tedious when placed together. I like "So Far To Go," but it's placed at a bad spot on this cd and things slow down from there. The song before, "Black Maybe," is awesome and probably my favorite, but is slow as well. "Break My Heart" seems to be the only overt filler here, although Common gets to show off his rare humorous side. I think if Common put "E=MC^2" (over "So Far To Go") it would have been a better testament to both his and J. Dilla's skills, and would have injected an extra shot of adrenaline into the cd.

Common's rhyming here is a little more vague and his pop culture references are a little superfluous, but there's still enough evidence of a very superior mc on the album. He still provides numerous quotables, as witnessed by reviewers' headlines. His style has always been more than simply punchlines, however. His stories are well-received, but the ones such as on "Misunderstood" are a tad suspect, as he seems to pull the stories out of thin air. Otherwise, the cd does still sit well with me and will be recommended, but I just wanted a little more material. I'm glad people are enjoying it and I hope he goes platinum with it and scores a big hit out of "Drivin' Me Wild" or "I Want You," which is very possible. He's earned it.